Scraper buckets



Nov. 13, 1956 J. s. THOMPSON 2,770,058

SCRAPER BUCKETS Filed Nov. 14, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG SCRAFER BUCKETS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 14, 1952 Unite SCRAPER BUCETS Application November 14, 1952, Serial No. 320,429

Claims priority, application Great Britain November 16, 1951 11 Claims. (Cl. 37-147) This invention relates to improvements in scraper, dirt or slusher buckets and an object of the invention is to provide a self-loading bucket which will enable material as for example dirt or stone in a coal mine to be removed rapidly from any locality such as a ripping and stowed in some other locality as for example in a gate side pack or roadway on a longwall advancing face.

According to the invention a scraper bucket comprises two opposite longitudinal side walls which have their lower edges upswept towards the rear end, means located towards the front end and adapted for attachment to a rope, a scoop member located towards the said rear end and extending between said side walls and upwardly and rearwardly, and means located towards said rear end and adapted for attachment to a second rope, the arrangement being such that a pull applied through the said second rope to the last mentioned means will cause the bucket to rock about the line of junction of the upswept portion with the remaining portion of the side walls and to move into a position of equilibrium in which the bucket rests on the said upswept edges.

Preferably the scoop member is in the form of a plate having at its upper end an upwardly and rearwardly extending scraper blade and inclined at an angle of between 20 and 60 to the base of the bucket; a preferred angle is between 20 and 30. The upper and rearward end of the blade is cuived outwardly and rearwardly and is wedge shaped, and the plate may be provided at its base with digging shoes. The plate may be parallel to and mounted adjacent to and rigid with the said upswept edges.

The longitudinal side walls may be curved or bent laterally towards one another at one end or both ends and may conveniently be connected together by a member having a portion curved outwardly frontwards and this member may be a curved pipe. A ram is mounted towards the front end of the bucket and is preferably of general wedge shaped formation having its apex directed forward- 1y; it may comprise two parts mounted on the forward portion of the pipe and inclined at an angle to one another.

When the bucket is hauled frontwards it takes a load of material with it and when it is pulled rearwards the bucket rocks, thereby depositing its load and is withdrawn to take up a new load. When again pulled frontwards it takes with it the new load and the ram at the front end of the bucket operates to ram home in the face pack the material already deposited on a previous run.

The haulage system may comprise a double drum and a movable lever which according to its position causes one or other of the drums to be driven. One end of the bucket is attached to a wire rope passing around one drum while the other end of the bucket is attached to a second rope passing around the other drum. Thus when one drum is rotated the bucket will move in one direction and when the other drum is rotated the bucket will move in the opposite direction. The haulage drums may be sited at a locality remote from the direction or run of the bucket, for example in the gate road, so that the dirt mm o 2,77 Patented Nov. 13, T1956 can be moved from a ripping to a face pack by an operator in a safe position.

By way of example, two forms of the invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of one form of bucket;

Figure 2 is a section on the line IIII of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the bucket in two different positions;

Figure 4 is a plan view of a second form of bucket;

Figure 5 is a sectional view on the line V-V of Figure 4.

Referring to the drawings a slusher bucket has two opposite longitudinal side walls 1, 2 which are bent inwardly towards the front and rear ends and each of which is provided with an upswept lower edge such as 1A at the rear end and 1B at the front end. The bottom of the bucket is open.

At the front end of the bucket the walls 1, 2 are connected together by a curved pipe 3 which is flattened at its ends and welded to the walls and which carries at a central position a lug 4 for attachment to a line rope and a ram comprising two parts, 5A, 5B inclined at an angle to one another.

Towards the rear end of the bucket is located a scoop 6 held between the walls 1, 2 and extending rearwardly and upwardly. The scoop is provided with a canopy 7, and is weighted by means of a number of blocks 8 in the form of fingers or serrations. The rear end of the bucket is provided with lugs 9 for attachment to a second wire rope.

The height of each lug 9 and the general arrangement, are such that when the bucket is in the position shown in full lines in Figure 3 and a pull is applied by means of rope 13 towards the right hand side, the bucket will rock about the line of junction between the upswept portion 1A and the remaining portion of the wall 1, the weight of the various parts of the bucket being adjusted so that the bucket can come to rest in the position shown in broken lines in Figure 3 when the lower edge of the upswept portion 1A is resting on the floor and the mass of material 15 is deposited through the open bottom.

The rope 13 is attached to lugs 9 so that the bucket can be hauled rearwards and another rope 14 is attached to lug 4 so that the bucket can be hauled frontwards. To pick up a load of material the bucket is drawn backwards over the floor resting on the upswept portion 1A and in this position the bucket is pulled along until it reaches the mass of heaped material which it is desired to move to another locality.

The pull on rope 13 is now released while a pull is applied to rope 14 thus rocking the bucket back to the position shown in full lines in Figure 3. A continuing pull on rope 14 causes the bucket to move forwards carrying with it a load of material until it reaches the locality where it is desired to deposit the material when rope 14 is released and rope 13 is pulled.

If this sequence of operations is repeated, at the end of a subsequent forward run the ram 5A, 5B operates to ram home the material already deposited on a previous run and if the pull on rope 14 is released and a pull again applied to rope 13 the bucket will rock so as to lower the back end and raise the front end and thus deposit its load of material. A further pull on rope 13 causes the bucket to travel backwards and the process is repeated until all the material has been removed.

Figures 4 and 5 show a modified form of bucket which is particularly adapted to enable the bucket to load itself when it meets a large mass of material over which it cannot pass. This form of bucket is designed so that it can itself dig into the mass of material until the mass is sufficiently reduced to enable the bucket to pass over the top of the mass to the other side.

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in this construction the bucket again comprises two side walls 1 and 2 of generally similar form to that shown in Figures 1-3, the walls being interconnected by a curved pipe 3 carrying a lug 4 and rams 5A, 5B. The plate is parallel to and adjacent the upswept edges.

The rear end of the bucket, however, is modified. In this case there is no canopy 7 and the scoop 6 of Figure 2 is replaced by a heavy steel plate 10 having a scraper blade 11, this plate carrying a lug 12 for attachment to a line rope 13. The angle of the plate 10 and blade 11 may be between about and 60 to the base of the bucket and a convenient angle has been found to be about 27.

The upper and rear end of the blade is rearwardly outwardly curved and wedge shaped and the plate is fitted with digging shoes 15.

When the bucket is pulled rearwards it rocks so that the lower edge of the upswept portion 1A rides on the floor while rope 13 is approximately parallel to the floor. When the bucket meets a mass of material the knife edge 11 penetrates the mass until a position is reached when further pull on the rope 13 causes the bucket to rock about the forward edge of knife edge 11 due to the resistance of the material. The pull on rope 13 is then released and a pull applied in the opposite direction to rope 14. The bucket then acts as a self-loader shovel and material falls into the bucket. The remainder of the operation is similar to that previously described with reference to Figures 1-3.

Once the mass of material has been reduced sufficiently to enable the bucket to ride over the top of the mass, the mode of operation of the bucket becomes exactly the same as that described with reference to Figures 1-3.

I claim:

1. A scraper bucket comprising two opposite longitudinal side walls which have lower straight edges with portions upswept in straight lines towards the rear end thereby forming a fulcrum about which the bucket can rock between two limit positions of stable equilibrium in each of which limit position straight portions of said lower edges rest on the ground, a scoop member located towards the rear end of said side walls and extending therebetween and upwardly and rearwardly, a member having a portion curved outwardly frontwards and connecting together the said longitudinal side walls at their front ends, a front rope attachment means on said member, a forwardly facing ram on said member, and a rear rope attachment means at the rear end of said Walls, the arrangement being such that a forward pull on said front rope attachment means rocks the bucket into one limit position and a rearward pull on said rear rope attachment means rocks the bucket about said fulcrum to the other limit position.

2. A scraper bucket as claimed in claim 1 wherein the curved member is a pipe having flattened ends secured to the front ends of said side walls.

3. A scraper bucket as claimed in claim 1 wherein said ram comprises two elements inclined at an angle to one another such that the ram is of generally wedge-shaped formation in plan with the apex directed forwardly.

4. A scraper bucket according to claim 1, said scoop member being in the form of a plate and an upwardly and rearwardly extending scraper blade being secured at the upper end of said plate.

5. A scraper bucket as claimed in claim 1, said scoop member being in the form of a plate, an upwardly and rearwardly extending scraper blade being secured at the upper end of said plate, and said plate and said blade being inclined at an angle of between 20 and 60 to the base of the bucket.

6. A scraper bucket as claimed in claim 1, said scoop member being in the form of a plate, an upwardly and rearwardly extending scraper blade being secured at the upper end of said plate, and said plate and said blade being inclined at an angle of between 20 and 30 to the base of the bucket.

7. A scraper bucket as claimed in claim 1, said scoop member being in the form of a plate, a blade being secured to said plate, and the upper and rearward edge of said blade being curved outwardly and rearwardly.

8. A scraper bucket as claimed in claim 1, said scoop member being in the form of a plate, a blade being secured to said plate, and the upper and rearward end of said blade being wedge-shaped in cross-section.

9. A scraper bucket as claimed in claim 1, said scoop member being in the form of a plate which is rigid with said side walls and is substantially parallel to and adjacent to said upswept edge portions.

10. A scraper bucket as claimed in claim 1, said scoop member being in the form of a plate rigid with'said side walls and substantially parallel to and adjacent to said upswept edge portions, and digging shoes being secured at the base of said plate.

11. A scraper bucket comprising two opposite longitudinal side walls which have lower straight edges with portions upswept in straight lines towards the rear end thereby forming a fulcrum between the upswept portion and the remaining portion of the side walls about which fulcrum the bucket can rock between two limit positions of stable equilibrium in each of which limit positions straight portions of said lower edges rest on the ground, a scoop member located towards the said rear end and extending between said side walls and upwardly and rearwardly, connection means located towards the front end for attachment to a rope, and connection means located towards said rear end for attachment to a second rope, the arrangement being such that a forward pull on said first mentioned connection means rocks the bucket about said fulcrum into one limit position and a rearward pull on said second mentioned connection causes the bucket to rock about said fulcrum to the other limit position, said bucket including a ram, carried by said bucket, and projecting forwardly from the front end thereof. 7

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 717,013 Monnerat Dec. 30, 1902 769,828 Moore Sept. 13, 1904 825,553 Page July 10, 1906 1,031,035 Allen July 2, 1912 1,397,560 Strange Nov. 22, 1921 1,512,936 Knapp Oct. 28, 1924 1,567,496 Fitzgerald Dec. 29, 1925 2,096,773 Weimer Got. 26, 1937 

